Alma the Overlander
by William Flamel
Summary: What would happen if a girl fell to the Underland rather than Gregor? And what if Magic got involved? Find out in this adaption of the story you knew and loved.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 1 The fall

It was a fairly warm day. An indicator that school was out and that summer vacation was here.

While most children would be out playing, celebrating their break, one girl was hiding in her bathroom, working on her homework her teacher had given her for the summer. She wanted it done and out of the way.

Joining her was her younger sister, who was only a little more than three. She was having a grand time chasing after a tennis ball.

The ball rolled to the older sister. "Play! Play!" the toddler cheered. The girl picked up the tennis ball, and rolled it to the other side of the room. The toddler giggled, and crawled after it.

It wasn't as if she couldn't walk. She just preferred to crawl everywhere.

On the other hand, the older sister was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't notice the room had gone quiet. So when the ball rolled over to her foot, she was prepared to throw it again. But she stopped when her sister was nowhere in sight.

"Rosie...? Rosie?!" she called. But there was no reply.

She was about to call again, when she felt a chill.

_That's odd..._ she thought. _I thought someone turned off the AC..._

There was a draft coming from the wall to her right. Which was even weirder, because there were no vents there. All that sat next to the wall was a drawer full of towels. And that's where the cold breeze was coming from.

_Or, more accurately... from behind it._ Is what she discovered when she ran her fingers along its side. She easily pushed it out of her way. It only held towels after all.

What was left in its place was a large hole, that was dark, and large enough for someone twice her size to fit through. And near its edge lay one of Rosie's little sandals.

The girl scooped up the sandal with one hand, and stretched her other into the darkness. _It only has to be two or three feet deep, right?_ She reassured herself, thinking Rosie would be sitting at the bottom, playing with dirt or something, perfectly fine.

But her hopes quickly faded when her hand didn't reach ground, or Rosie's curly hair.

She reached even deeper, into what seemed like an abyss, desperately reaching for her sister.

Her arm was up to her shoulder in darkness, when the hand that was supporting her slipped under her weight, and she fell.

When she didn't land on anything soon enough, she let out an ear-shattering scream that left her lungs burning. Because once she hit the bottom, she would surely be dead at the speed she was going.

But before any of the blood splatter happened, she hit her head on a rock jutting out the side of the tunnel. And it all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 2 The fount

When she awoke, she shot straight up in bed. She was alive! But how...? Had that all been a terrible nightmare?

She looked down at her hands, and realized she was shivering. The cold hit her like a wave. She was soaked to the bone. She was sitting in some strange bed, which wasn't made of springs, or anything she was used to, and the sheets were all made of some kind of silk.

She looked around the room. It was small, and made of stone. Her shadow flickered on the wall from the light of a candle, which was the only thing lighting the small room. There were no windows, and there were few shelves, most of which were lined with trinkets she had never seen before. Just where was she?

Just then she heard giggling coming from the other room. It was Rosie! She quickly threw on a robe that had been laid at the end of the bed, and went into the next room to find her little sister sitting at a table, playing some kind of game with a man. When she saw that she was alright, she started tearing up.

"Rosie..." was all she got out before she ran to hug her.

"Hi, hi!" the toddler said happily, tugging on her robe. "You sleepy! I play with Ho-wa."

"Who now?" she said in between tears, when she looked at the man for the first time.

He looked almost alien to her. He was probably only two or three years older than her. But his hair was some kind of albino silver, and his eyes were a light lilac purple. His skin was so pale; you could almost see his veins through his skin. A kind smile was on his face when he spoke.

"Greetings, Overlander. I am called Howard. What might your name be?" he said with a slight bow.

"A-Alma..." she responded, clearly shaken up. "Wh-what are you, and where am I...?" she was holding Rosie protectively now.

"Do not fret, Alma. I will not harm you. You have fallen to the Underland."

"F-Fallen...? Underland?!" Things were somewhat starting to click into place. The hole wasn't just a simple mistake in the construction of her house; it led to a whole different place entirely.

"Many others have fallen before you. I hear that not many of them survive, which is why I was surprised when Corona found you in the river, still breathing."

"O-oh..." hearing that she barely escaped the claws of death made her legs start to shake again. "Can I get back home...? And, umm, also... who is Corona?"

He laughed. "I'm sure the Council will have a Flier take you home, once we tell them of your predicament. Corona is my Flier."

Council? Flier? What? What was he talking about? Sure, she was new here, but he talked as if she would understand. "I don't-" she was about to say, when a voice came from outside.

"Oh, Howard, is the Overlander awake?" the voice purred from the other side of a blanket made from some kind of reeds that was used as a door.

"She is." Howard called back. "Come in and Join us, Corona."

Alma expected Corona to be a girl decked out in some kind of outfits for whatever the "Fliers" looked like down here. But what fluttered in instead of her imaginative person almost made her heart stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 3 Howard and Corona

A beautiful turquoise bat with black stripes pushed the veil of reeds out of her way, and fluttered in. She stood some eight or nine feet tall, and had razor sharp blades attached to her claws on her feet, as well as the ones on her wings.

"Greetings to you, Overlander. You may call me Corona." The bat purred in a happy tone, which Alma almost didn't notice because of how scared she was.

"Biiig bat!" Rosie squeaked happily in response. "Co-na!"

"B-BAT?!" Alma said in shock, almost dropping Rosie.

"Oh! Did I say something wrong...?" Corona said, looking hurt. She looked to Howard for help.

"No, of course not Corona." He reassured her. "Alma is just surprised is all. We know Fliers also live in the overland, but they are significantly smaller than the ones in your colony."

Surprised? Surprised is an understatement! Alma felt like her knees could buckle any second. "Th-they also aren't that color... you're very pretty..." she managed to squeak out.

Corona sort of giggled, or that's what Alma guessed it was because it was a kind of squeak. "Why thank you!" she purred, her happy tone returning again. "But it pales in comparison to some others."

"Come on, you two. We should prepare to head for Regalia to tell the council of Alma's arrival."

While Howard and Corona went through the house deciding what to take with them, Alma and Rosie stepped outside. The Village of the Fount was rather small. Little stone houses lined the river, which trickled by calmly. Alma looked up at the sky, thinking it was night time... but there was no moon, or stars in the sky. In the darkness, she could barely make out the top of the cave several stories above her head. She was miles under the Earth's surface.

Across the river, about a dozen mice scurried around busily, in and out of caves that appeared to be their homes. One stopped to look at the two of them, waved its tail in a kind of greeting, and went back to work.

"Look, look! Mousies!" Rosie said happily, pointing to them from their side of the stream.

"Yes, I see them Rosie..." Alma said quietly. Giant Bats, mice, and odd albino people? What else could be down here...?

"Get ready to mount up, Overlander." Howard said, walking out with a fairly large backpack-like bag that he strapped to Corona's back. Alma walked over to them with Rosie behind her, when she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

She turned around, and saw a child and a grown woman that had the same silver hair and purple eyes as Howard. When the woman saw that she had spotted them, she ordered her child to go inside the house, and stared at Alma coldly. Just what was with the people down here?!

"Alright Overlander. Hand me your sister, then I will help you up." Howard said. He had already climbed on Corona's back while Alma wasn't looking.

She carefully lifted Rosie up to him, and when she took his out-stretched hand, she told him and Corona "You know, I would be much more comfortable if you two just called me Alma."

"We can do that." Corona replied cheerfully, as Alma took her place behind Howard. They sat back-to-back, with Rosie in her lap. Alma felt Corona beat her wings, and the Fount started slowly creeping away from her.

"Bye-bye, Mousies!" Rosie waved to no one in particular.

Alma looked to her side at Corona's long wings. Her full wingspan had to be somewhere around sixteen feet, because one wing was much longer than Alma's height. And if Corona was as young as she sounded, how big were the adults...?

"Umm... hey, if you don't mind me asking... what did you mean when you called Corona your Flier...?" She asked nervously.

"She is my bond." He said calmly, as if he expected the question. "Because we humans have such a strong alliance with the Fliers, we spend a lot of time with them. If a particular Flier and human become close, they may take an oath to swear to protect each other to the death, becoming bonds."

"Are you allowed to take the oath any time?"

"Yes, but the other must agree to it first. Otherwise, there would be no sense in it, for letting your bond purposefully die is punished by death."

Alma hesitated on her last question for a moment. "Are... are Overlanders allowed to have bonds as well...?" she asked shyly.

"There are no laws against it. But you may not have mine." he added jokingly, and everyone laughed. Rosie laughed to, only because they all were.

She was about to load them with more questions, but she didn't have time to. She sensed the faint glow of lights behind her, and turned to see the beautiful city of Regalia.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 4 Regalia

Alma could see candles illuminating the windows of the buildings, but that wasn't all. The city was also lit up by some kind of phosphorous, and other light sources she had never seen before.

The Streets which were made of set in stones fanned out all over the city to form some complex geometric pattern.

And the buildings had to be the grandest of all. Beautiful works of marble that seemed to give off a glow like shine were the homes of all the townspeople. The walls were so smooth you could probably see your reflection in them. Regalia's architecture put many modern cities to shame.

A Rusty orange bat flew up next to Corona, and a fairly muscular young man waved to Howard. "Greetings Howard! It's a pleasure to see you again!" he called to him.

"Same to you, Moranzo!" Howard yelled back.

"What brings you here?"

"I've brought a friend that I thought the Council might want to meet." he replied.

"Well, if you ever want to catch up, you know where to find me!" Moranzo said, giving Howard a sort of salute. He said nothing to Alma, but she could feel the eyes of him and his bond staring at her curiously, and suspiciously. The two banked to the left, and flew into the city, while Corona was headed for a huge, flawless stone building at the city's heart.

"Is that it?" Alma asked Howard.

"Yes, that's the palace." He responded. "That's where you'll meet the council, and they'll hear your case."

At that, Alma's pace sped up again. _Great. More alien people._ She thought to herself.

There was quite a lot of Bat traffic at the top of the palace. But when she looked over the side, she saw no one heading through the doors on the ground. "Why does everyone fly in?" she asked out loud.

"The Palace itself has no doors. Easier to protect from intruders that way."

_Intruders?_ She thought. Then quickly stopped herself before she let the question slip out. She didn't want to know.

Corona coasted to a stop inside the building, and Alma saw that the inside was just as flawless as the exterior, and the entire top of the Building had been left open so that bats could easily land and take off. but she didn't have very long to admire the architecture, because as soon as she hopped off, she was surrounded by more Underlanders, all with the same purple eyes and silver hair.

_So they all look like this. Got it_. Alma thought. _Just how offended would I make them if they could hear what I'm thinking...? _

"Take her to the Washrooms immediately." Someone who sounded in charge said. "Get rid of her overland smell." What? Did Overlanders stink to them? But she didn't have time to get out a question before they separated her and Rosie, and a woman led Alma away.

At the end of a hall, the woman led her into a room, and held out her hand to Alma. "Your clothes, Overlander."

_Oh, yeah, they probably need to wash them_.

She ducked behind a curtain, took off her clothes, and handed them over to the lady without stepping away from the curtain. As soon as she heard the Underlander's footsteps fade out of the room, she began to scrub from head to toe, attempting to erase her "scent" as much as possible.

One of the drainage systems she noticed had a huge opening that fell straight into the river. _That's nice to know. Just in case... _she thought.

When she was through, she peeked out from behind the curtain to see if her clothes had been brought back, but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Alma had been brought her own version of what the Overlanders were wearing. They somewhat reminded her of the clothes they wore in ancient Greece, but her robes were a nice emerald hue.

When she stepped out of the room, a woman holding Rosie was waiting for her. Rosie's old clothes were gone as well, replaced with a pink robe for her which fit her name quite nicely.

"Look, Alma! I all clean!" she said proudly.

"Rosie was such a good little girl." The Underlander woman said with a smile.

"Thanks." Alma said, Taking Rosie back from her. "What happened to our clothes?"

"Oh, those have been burned." She said as if it was nothing new.

"What?!" Alma exclaimed. Well, it wasn't as if they would be hard to replace... but she had really liked that shirt...

"Oh, it's much too dangerous to keep them down here. The rats would be on you in seconds." she added, looking concerned.

Rats. Oh, that was nice to know.

She thanked her again, and started on her way back down the hall. She wanted to find Howard and the Council, and get out of this place.

_But..._ she thought, second guessing herself._ All of the time I've spent down here hasn't been too bad... Well, the time that I've been conscious for anyways. Maybe if I took Rosie home first, I could come back later. I mean, what am I doing this summer anyways? _

Howard called out to her, breaking her train of thought.

"There you are!" he said, walking over to her. "I was wondering where you go to. Ready to talk to the Council?"

She smiled, not sure what else to do. "Ready as I'll ever be."


End file.
